and for the Thanksgiving part.

So we headed out of Oakland and up to Sacramento on Thanksgiving. In orde for us to feel right back at home in the Bay Area, we hit MASSIVE traffic up until we got to Dixon, turning a 1.5 hour ride into a 3 hour odyssey including gas, bathroom and snack stops. 

We got to Lisa and Clarks house an hour or so before dinner and all the hard work was done! We got to see their new kitchen and basically sit down to dinner without doing any work. Dinner was great, it was our whole family along with theirs as well as Auntie Sue and Grandma Mary. I tried to enlist all of Lisa's kids into helping me wash the dishes (I KNEW none of mine would help me), but got nowhere. Auntie Sue, Grandma and I did the dishes while everyone else hit the park for some after dinner football. 

After football and cleanup, it was over to Grandma Mary's house for Tanner's final birthday party. It was a surprise (we delayed our arrival by a few minutes). He was truly surprised, and not doing well with being the center of attention, was happiest when the party moved on to the gift opening. He got more great stuff from my side of the family, AND had more cake and candy. After part of a movie, the kids all collapsed. 

We spent some more cousin time today and set off for home about 2:00. It was great seeing everyone, but we are getting ready to be home. We made it to Reno and stayed in the Peppermill, where we both got to have a great workout in the huge gym and a good dinner with the kids. They are watching a movie as I type. I'm hoping to get another workout in tomorrow before we get on the road and then it's a long day's drive back home to Boise. 

Tanner and I have been gone for 8 days and he's really tired. A night in our own beds is being much looked forward to. Vacation is always great, but it's always awesome to be back home.